


The Ai of the storm

by shy_duckling



Category: Free!
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Future, Australia, Free! Eternal Summer, Living Together, M/M, Post-Free! Eternal Summer, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2019-01-06 22:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12220020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shy_duckling/pseuds/shy_duckling
Summary: Aiichirou couldn't remember since when he had been scared of storms. All he knew is that the loud thunders brought him sleeples nights, but now he was learning that they could also bring good things with them.Super special thank you for blazingaura1499 for being so supportive and proofreading this work.





	1. Chapter 1

Aiichirou woke up in a jump hitting his head on the bunker rails. Another stormy night of little to no sleep at all. The small boy didn’t know why the loud thunders made him shake beneath his covers so much, but he could recall it happening since a young age. In his still hazy mind, the only other thought was the even bigger fear of Momotarou waking up to find him in such state. He was able to keep his sleepless nights a secret from his roommate so far and he wondered if it was due to the energetic way Momo did everything that he was such a heavy sleeper.

He reached blindly for his phone in a attempt to distract himself only to be met with a bright blinking light when he finally got a hold of it. Ai unlocked his phone in a rush to find a text from Rin. All it said was “u okay?”, but he knew it meant a lot more than just that. It took him back to the night his sempai found out about his storm fear, they sat together on Nitori's bed and watched movies all night. He didn't remember falling asleep when he woke up in the morning and realised Rin was already gone. He must have lost track of his thoughts because when he cheked his phone again there was another message. It took him so by surprise that it had come from Sousuke this time that he didn’t follow the “Ai, come to the door” right away.

As soon as he opened the door, Sousuke was already walking in without a word leaving him to see Rin leaning at the door at the other side of the hallway. He could hear Momo whining as Sousuke must have thrown him out of his bed to take over the top bunk behind his now closed door. When he passed by Rin’s side he felt a warmth spread through his body as Rin’s hand touched his lower back guiding him inside. Aiichirou sat on the bed and watched in silence as his former roommate moved around. Rin’s confident moves had always astonished him, not always sure or calm, but still bringing a feeling he couldn’t grasp on.

“Out in your own duckling world?” Rin asked with a smirk handing Ai a fluffy blue cover. He buried his face in the blanket and thanked God it hadnt’t gone missing or stolen by Momotarou. It felt a little different to him though like something was off about it.

“Rin-sempai, have you been sleeping with my blanket?” He questioned while peeking from behind the covers, he could swear he saw Rin's face turn a darker shade of red. There was a long moment of silence when only the raindrops betting the window could be heard, Ai watched as Rin's mouth opened and closed in an attempt to gather his thoughts.

“What? No, I have not, Nitori” Aiichirou giggled hearing the embarrassment on the other's voice. He decided not to pry on it and just ask Sousuke later as he knew he would definitely get a more honest answer and maybe even some pictures. He wondered when was the last time Rin had called him by his surname, they had been getting more and more close lately , but he tried not to get his hopes up. “Do you need anything?” The younger boy stared at Rin trying to figure out what he meant by that. “You...didn't bring your shark tonight”

“Oh...” He hadn’t expected Rin to remember he slept with the plush shark he had given him last Christmas. He hadn’t noticed that it was still in his room and not with him until Rin said something and now he missed it more than anything.

“Well seems like you'll have to settle for hugging me instead.” Ai couldn’t remember a time his face had been so red, his cheeks literally burnt and he just wanted to hide in shame. His sempai could have been more merciful to his excited heart and at least not winked at him at the end, but seemed like being teased was the price he had to pay for spending the night with Rin. Not like he minded it that much, if it meant he actually got to sleep, sleep with his crush by his side. His thoughts got interrupted as a loud thunder came crashing down his calm state.

Suddenly there were arms around him, rushing him to lay down until all he could feel was warmth and the pillow next to his face muddling all the noise that came from outside.”It's alright, Ai, it’s alright. It can’t get you here okay?” He could feel more than hear hushing sounds coming from his upperclassman, making his breathing become stable over time. “I'll be right back, Ai.” Rin got up for awhile and got his laptop from his desk alongside more pillows, it reminded him of the blanket forts Momo loved to build during the weekends. “It’s alright now, you can relax.” Filled with the comfort of good memories, Rin's scent on his blanket and the sound of cheesy romantic comedies Ai was finally able to forget about the storm outside.

The sound of giggles and deep laughter woke from his slumber, it was hard to open his eyes when he felt so warm and comfortable, but as his dreams started mixing with reality he needed to know what those sounds were about. Aiichirou opened his eyes to find the rare sight of Sousuke smiling and a not so rare one of Momotarou smiling too. It took him a second to realise why they were there and what they were doing, though Rin had caught up own it faster jumping out off of the bed like it was in flames.

“Why the hell are you two here?” Rin asked baring his teeth like he did when one of the swim team members was falling behind. His expression only got more scary when Sousuke kept laughing and shook his phone. “Sousuke...you didn’t dare...” The boy left the room without a single word with Momo following right behind him. “Fuck. That bastard!”

“Sempai...?” Ai watched as Rin calmed down trying not to move or make sounds so that his anger wouldn’t fall on him, when he finally felt the moment was right he tried to catch his attention again.  
“Ai... hey, good morning.” The older boy turned to him with an uneasy smile that wavered out of his face fast. Ai leaned to the touch of his hands on his cheeks as the other tried to assure him everything was okay. “I’m sorry for yelling, I... didn’t mean to.” He closed his eyes and nodded against the warmth he felt coming from Rin’s touch. “Do you feel any better, Ai?”

“Yes, captain!” Aiichirou grinned as Rin rolled his eyes at the nickname. He got a poke to his forehead before the other got up again to get dressed.

“You should go get dressed too or you'll miss first class.” He could hear the grin on Rin's face even though he had his back turnt to him, it’s not like he took so long to get dressed as the other thought he just enjoyed taking his time a little sometimes.”You know you have only 15 minutes right?”

“What! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” He jumped out of Berlin a heartbeat, praying no one would be outside to see him on his pajamas. A hand hit the door when he was about to leave trapping him in place. “Rin-sempai?”

“Your bedhair looks very nice today too, duckling” Ai felt his cheeks heat up with the words whispered against his ear. He opened the door as much as he could with Rin is standing close to him and slammed it shut not caring who saw him walk through the hallway in his duck pajamas. Rin smiled to himself as he opened the door again after Ai left to watch as his shorts rode up his ass while he walked. His whistle earned him a mean stare that he just couldn’t take seriously seeing thrnyounger boy's red face. His grin stayed on his face for the rest of the day when he realised Ai had left his scent on the blanket he forgot, again, and when Sousuke traded the pictures for lunch.


	2. Chapter 2

The car windshield made the world behind it look underwater, the rain or Yukiko's crying hadn’t let up all day. It was the first time Ai worked after they had adopted the girl and Rin was starting to question how much a baby could get attached to someone that much. It was also the first time it rained since she had come home with them in that sunny spring day, everything had been so warm and bright, even the fights he and Ai still had about what restaurant to get food from. He sometimes woke up in the middle of the night and wondered if the last month had been just a dream until he looked to his side’s and could see Ai in his arms in one and Yukiko's cradle in the other.

Now he only looked to his right side where Aiichiro should be coming out of the building in no time but he couldn’t find a damn parking spot available. He felt like he had driven around the block for na hour straight which could be true as his husband had the habit of not noticing he was doing overwork time. He thought he might do it if he worked with such cute rescue animals too. Ai loved his job and he respected it, specially when he brought cute pictures home though not as much when he tried to hide a puppy he took home.

He sighed in relief as he saw a mess of silver hair run to the car and stopped in the middle of the street not minding the horns coming from the cars behind him. “Backsit” he tried to mouth slowly to Ai still out of the car in hopes him sitting there with Yukiko would make the girl calm down, her ocean eyes were as cute as her dad's and her crying was also as agonozing as his if not more. Luckily, the boy understood and got in quickly. Rin looked to him through the rear view mirror and couldn’t hold hid smile seeing his husband getting their daughter in his arms and trying to shush her “Welcome back, duckling” he knew Ai would be able to hear his fondness in his words, but he had stopped caring about showing his feelings to the boy a long time ago.

“Thank you!!!” Aiichirou answered cheerfully, his smile shining bright as the small girl started to calm down. He let out a sight of relief holding Yukiko closer to him. “I really missed you guys today, I didn’t know it was gonna be this hard.” He muttered with a hint of sadness in his tone.

“We really missed you too, Ai. We cried all day because of it, didn’t we, Yuki-chan?” Rin tried to keep his eyes on the road ahead of him as he spoke, but it was hard not to look back at his family. Hid chest was filled with warmth every time he managed to get a glance back at them not minding how many red lights he had to stop on today. “Do you want to head straight home or is there somewhere you want to go?” 

“I think we're both very tired and want to go home, daddy.” Ai had to laugh as Rin rolled his eyes, ever since they became parents teasing him with that had been his one and only mission in life. Yukiko stirred in his arms with all the noise and he had to hold back his laughter. 

“Anything you say, Your Highness.” Rin answered earning himself more muffled chuckles. “So how was your day back at work?” he asked trying to change topics. Their apartment was closer to where Rin trained so it was a not so short ride from Ali’s, he tried to pick the boy up whenever he had the time too to make up for it. He didn’t think the boy would follow him all the way to Australia to finally confess the feelings they had hid from each other for so long, but the redhead was more than glad that he did.

“Work was great! I had missed it really bad.” Ali’s words were filled with excitement as he talked and tried to remember every detail about his day to share. “We took care of a very cute cat today, she was still small so we even had to bottle feed her! It reminded of Yuki so I got you a pic... Oh we're already here!” he cheered as the garage gate opened for them to get in.

They left the car in silence after noticing Yukiko had fallen asleep, Rin knew his husband's voice was a great help at calming down that’s why he loved when Ai sang to their daughter every night, because he could fall asleep to it too. “Go call the elevator, I’ll get your things.” He said quietly nudging the boy forward, he grabbed Ai's coat and bag and caught up to him, holding him close with his arms around his waist. They didn’t dare say a word until they got home, quietly thanking God that no one had passed by them and ruined their own little moment before they finally got to close their apartments house behind themselves. “Wanna put her to bed and get some dinner, love?” Rin said as he wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and kissed him up his neck just to realise how much he had missed his smell.

“Alright, I’ll be right back okay?” Ai said in his always so tender voice, except for that one time Rin woke up to him trying to explain to Momotaro why he could not mail him some rare Australian bug. He watched as the boy walked with fondness, the bounce on his heels gave away how happy he was to be back home. Rin knew he enjoyed his work, but he also knew how hard it was to stay away from Yukiko in his first days of training after they adopted her. He worked on a fast dinner knowing full well that Aiichirou would probably be asleep by the time he got to their bedroom and would have to wake him up to at least drink some tea to relax his body.

The redhead made his way to their bedroom with a tray on his hands containing two cups of tea that tasted very differently even tho they were both chamomile, he would never get over how much sugar Ai could put in his small body, but had given up on complaining a long time ago. To his surprise, he found his husband standing right next to the crib watching as Yukiko slept. 

“It's the first time it rained since she came home.” Ai muttered softly and Rin almost missed him words from how quiet they sounded. He hugged him from behind and got his arms around the smaller boy resting his chin on the top of his head. “I was so focused on her I hadn’t noticed until now”

Rin kissed the top of his head before muttering “Are you scared? We can try to turn the tv on and see if she doesn’t wake up.” He let his arms loose so that Aiichirou could look at him while they spoke. 

“I’ll be okay as long as it doesn’t get too loud. Thank you though, captain.” Ai covered his mouth as he realised what he had just said. He blushed as Rin’s face turned into a mischevious smirk and caught his eyes right into his stare.

“Are you sure?” Rin said as he moved his hands down his husband's back and rested them on his ass with a light squeeze. “I know daddy here wouldn’t mind spoiling you.” He pulled them backwards so that they would fall onto the bed as Ai's face turned so red they looked like they were on fire. Rin laughed as he tried to keep the squealing boy in place to kiss him. When he finally managed to do it the silver hair in front of him was already a mess and he couldn’t believe how it looked even more cute than when it was thoroughly combed. “Welcome home, duckling.”

“I'm home.” Ai answered without properly looking at him, his voice was fond, but his eyes were turn ing black with lust. It was really a sight to see when the sky blue gave way to the dark side of his one and only love. Well, Rin thought to himself, he couldn’t say that anymore as he had two loves in his life. He grabbed as much as he could of the silver strands and pulled Aiichirou for another kiss, feeling him get lost in the sensation was as satisfying as getting lost himself. 

He rolled them over pining Ai to his bed and worked his pale pink shirt out of the way so that he could get a better view of his body. Rin reached for his belt to start getting his pants out of the way when he heard rustling from behind him and stopped in his tracks. Not a minute later the crying came and he flopped down on the bed as Ai pushed him away to go attend Yukiko's needs. After a minute of cursing his bad luck, he finally got up to help his husband take care of their daughter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had two ideas for this chapter and as I couldn't decide on which one to not use I decided to write both. I look forward to writing the next chapter and hope you'll enjoy it.


	3. Chapter 3

Yukiko ran around the apartment with her hands always full of anything and everything she thought could be used against the rain pouring down outside to make a cave beneath their dining table where the water couldn’t find them. The light rain from the morning had turned into a full storm after Rin left for work and she took it as her life mission to protect him and Ai from the bad weather outside. When she was finally satisfied with her work she pulled her dad inside through the door made out of rain coats along with her favourite toys and a bag of chips in order to protect them all.

Aiichirou laughed as he was dragged inside and had to sit there holding the three years old girl until the storm started to let up, not that he minded spending time with her he just didn’t want his daughter to be as scared as he was when he was younger. He tried to calm her down the whole time and try to convince her to leave their spot, but nothing was good enough to make the girl leave so he decided it was better to just accept his fate and enjoy his time with her. “So how’s bubblegum princess doing today, cutie?”

“She’s really good, but she’s tired of taking care of the strawberry shark. He’s been sick all day!” she sighed in frustration as she tried to take care of her plushie shark Rin had gotten her for her birthday. “Oh, I know what we can do to make it better!” she said excitingly pushing the toy in Ai's direction. He picked it up and looked at her for more instructions on how they’d save the shark’s life “You should kiss him better as you do with my bolo boos, dad”. She looked expectantly at him as if it was a real do or die situation and Aiichiro couldn’t help, but oblige to her wishes. Her smile got bigger and bigger as he kissed the toy, he gave it back to Yukiko and put her up in his lap to time her.

They spent more time playing together and talking about the lives of every doll Yukiko had brought inside until they heard the front door being unlocked. “I’m home!” they heard Rin say as he got in and closed the door behind him, they looked at each other and giggled as Ai gestured for Yukiko to stay quiet as they hid in there. “What? No welcome home kiss today?” they stood in place without moving a muscle trying to hear where Rin was heading to, he seemed to have followed the hallway heading to the bedrooms where he wouldn’t find anyone. “Where would they go to in all this rain?” Rin said letting out a sight and coming back down the hallway.

When he finally headed to the kitchen, he was met by the sight of all their umbrellas open around the dining table and their rain coats thrown on top of them making na opening on the front. He got closer to it as Ai and Yukiko tried hard not to laugh. “What’s the password?” the small girl asked giggling as they could see Rin's startled form through the white polka dots rain coat that belonged to her.

“Hmm... let me see...” he said with a hint of amusement in his voice. He walked around their fort tapping his finger against his chin and trying to figure out what would make his daughter and husband let him in. “I brought chips with me.” He tried and waited until a hand passed through their make believe door.

“Maple bacon chips?” He heard his husband ask from inside and reach for the bag when he agreed. They seemed to be deciding if they’d let him in or not as he could hear a lot of whispering coming from beneath the table. He didn’t expect to come home to that, but he couldn’t deny it was quite pleasing to see how well the other two got along. They were so similar that it astonished him, their rain fear and blue eyes always made people think Yukiko was Ai's blood daughter and he could see the happiness on his partner’s blushing face when someone said that. He didn’t mind not looking at her as much as the other boy did, all that he cared about was how happy they were.

As the chips tread didn’t seem to have worked, he had to think of something else to be allowed inside. As buying his way in hadn’t work he said to put the big bad wolf act and conquer his way inside with the thing that always made Yukiko budge. “Well I see my chips aren’t good enough for you huh?” He said in his best fake annoyed voice “You think you can treat me like that, you fools?” He heard soft giggles, getting satisfied with himself. “Well I think you can’t treat the tickle monster like that! Get ready for my sweet sweet revenge!” he said barging in through the rain coats and grabbing the girl inside.

She screamed as he tickled her belly, not being able to contain her laugh. “Noooo! Dad, dad, save me!” she yelled as Aiichirou just stood their laughing at the sight in front of him. It was weird being beneath their dining table covered in rain gear, but all he cared about was how happy his daughter and husband looked playing with each other. The pleasing feeling went away fast though when something warm started soaking his pants “Oh...” Ai heard Yukiko sigh before starting to cry, apparently the tickling was way too much for the little girl to be able to hold it in.

“Hey, hey, hey, let’s get out of here, cutie. Come on, it’s okay” Ai said in his most relaxing tone that made even Rin feel like it was gonna be okay. He waited until Yukiko had crawled out behind him and picked her up heading to the bathroom. He calmly took her clothes off while the bathtub filled up. “Rin, can you grab clean clothes for Yukiko?” He asked, trying to make their daughter stop crying the best he could.

“Can Papa get mister duck too?” she asked still sniffing, but a lot calmer now.

“Already here.” Rin answered as he came into the bathroom and handed her the small rubber duck that was thrown promptly into the water. He put down the orange pajamas Momotarou had given to her in his last visit and was a very successful gift seeing as how much she loved to wear it. Rin gave Ai a kiss on top of his silky hair as he headed back to the dining room. “I’ll go clean it up and I’ll b right back, okay?”

“I’m sorry for making a mess, papa.” Yukiko had a sad tone in her voice that made Rin turn on his heels and head to the bathtub where she was now being bathed in a pink pool of lots of soap and a little water like Aiichirou loved to make.

“It's no problem, baby girl. The tickle monster will be more careful next time.” He made a point by splashing water on her and bopping her nose. “Now get all clean for dinner, because I have some news for you.” The wink he gave made her get up in the bathtub and grab the edges of it to get out as Ai tried to hurry her back inside.

“Is it about my swimming classes? Is it?” she yelled moving all over in her excited manners. “Please, papa. Is it?” she gave Rin the same puppy eyes always gave when he wanted something and he was very close to cave in, extremely close to cave in, but this time he had made a promise with his husband who was a lot stronger than him when it came to this. He could sense Ai's glare in his direction and he knew he’d sleep in the couch if he said anything.

“Maybe” he answered, running away as he could hear Aiichirou yelling at him while Yukiko played in the water happily with the answer she got. He was happy to clean the mess up as long as it meant he could see his family happy for one more night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it too ♡


End file.
